Manchester United right-back Antonio Valencia has issued an apology to his teammates and fans of the club after being partially to blame for them being knocked out of the FA Cup against Arsenal on Monday.

The Ecuador winger’s under-hit back-pass allowed former Red Devil Danny Welbeck to nip in and round David de Gea before tapping home into an empty net, and at that point the tie was put beyond the home side.

Poor Valencia

Despite it being a poor performance all round for Louis van Gaal’s men Valencia’s display stood out as being particularly drab, and as such the 29-year-old has issued an apology in the hope of being forgiven. Taking to his Instagram page the powerful South American vowed to keep working hard, stating ‘tomorrow is another day’.

United options

Whilst that may be true it remains to be seen just how many days Valencia will have left as Van Gaal’s first-choice right-back, with many fans frustrated at his ineptitude when it comes to defending. Neither he nor Rafael da Silva look especially confident in the right wing-back role Van Gaal like to employ, and as a result this summer could see the Dutchman seek to bring in an alternative.

For Valencia that might not spell the end to his United career as he is better served playing further forward, but Rafael may be forced to look for another club. The Brazilian showed Van Gaal what he’s capable of by netting a tremendous effort in a match for the United U21 side last night, but he doesn’t look to be able to command the same sort of respect from the current manager as he was with Sir Alex Ferguson.

Potential move

Moving back to Valencia it will be interesting to see how his situation plays out, what with Van Gaal already having an abundance of attacking talent. There’s few who are as good in wide positions as the former Wigan man but his culpability at the back let the side down massively against Arsenal, and it’s not the first time this season he’s looked out of place.

Unless he can produce assured performances from here on in Van Gaal might well be within his rights to determine that he’s not up to the required standard. If he does come to that conclusion then Valencia will be seeking pastures new, as United’s new project shouldn’t be prepared to carry deadweight.

United fans, do you think Valencia is a good enough right-back for you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below...

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